Star Deli sits in the shadow of the old Worker's Take-out location. For this reason, their similar menu of pressed sandwiches, salads and soups already had a lot to live up to on Day One. I grudgingly tried it for the first time six months ago. I think it was the Cubano, on toasty white baguette, with whole grain mustard and pickles sliced longways. And then I went the very next day, this time to satiate my Italian sub craving, which the "Don Rocco" did quite well. I thought about going for a third straight lunch, but I didn't want the counter dude to think I was weird. One time I tried a veggie sandwich on special that was a little sparse (mostly bell peppers), but I let it slide. The chicken cordon bleu special a few weeks ago really blew my skirt up, though. Oh, it was heavenly, hammy and cheesy.

Chicken Artichoke Soup--
What a bummer!

It seems a tad unfair that the day I decided to write about it, they were having a very bad day. As usual, I took the food to go, to heartily enjoy in front of an episode of Frasier. This day was different. The Chicken Artichoke Soup ($3) was mostly just the water that's left in the pot after boiling an artichoke, with a copious amount of oil added--so much that it separated after five minutes. The rest was just inedible outer artichoke petals, and some reject gray chicken meat. I tried not to let the soup bummer affect my sandwich experience, too. But the cheese on the Cubano ($7) wasn't even a little melted, and the beef on the French Dip ($7) was also ice cold and far too rare.

The Cubano:
Lovely baguette and mustard,
but cold ham, pork and Swiss.
Better luck next time.

The French Dip:
The au jus was very Worcestershire-y, not the actual "jus" from roasting beef like it's supposed to be.

Star, I know you're just a little counter sandwich shoppe. Maybe you like staying small. But I think you could be something big, even one of the best. Please, don't take your bad days out on us. Just cause you got in a fight with your girlfriend or whatever doesn't mean we should have to sip on artichoke water. Keep up the good work, and cut out the "off" days, especially the ones that make me feel that flushing a $20 bill down the toilet would have been more fun than eating your food. Got it? Good.